RI's, Asia's rights record poor: U.S. State Department<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Washington<\/p>\n
Indonesia continued to make progress in some areas of its
\ntransition from a long-entrenched authoritarian regime to a more
\npluralistic, representative democracy, but the government's human
\nrights record remains poor, the U.S. State Department said.<\/p>\n
\"Security forces were responsible for numerous instances of,
\nat times indiscriminate, shooting of civilians, torture, rape,
\nbeatings and other abuse, and arbitrary detention in Aceh, West
\nTimor, Papua...and elsewhere in the country.\" it said in its
\nworldwide report for 2001 released on Monday.<\/p>\n
The country reports on human rights practices, issued annually
\nby the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, also charged
\nthat Indonesian soldiers often responded with indiscriminate
\nviolence after attacks on colleagues and conducted \"sweeps\" that
\nled to killings and property destruction.<\/p>\n
Police and soldiers are battling separatist revolts in Aceh
\nand Papua.<\/p>\n
The report also said separatist rebels killed dozens of civil
\nsociety leaders, academics, politicians and other residents in
\nAceh, as well as civil servants, police and soldiers.<\/p>\n
But the State Department says cross-border raids into East
\nTimor by pro-Jakarta militias resident in West Timor diminished
\nduring 2001 as the Indonesian military withdrew its backing.<\/p>\n
The government's failure to pursue accountability for human
\nrights violations \"reinforces the impression that there would be
\ncontinued impunity for security force abuses.\"<\/p>\n
The report also faults the legal system. \"Despite initial
\nsteps toward reform, the judiciary remains subordinate to the
\nexecutive, is corrupt and does not always ensure due process.\"<\/p>\n
The government was also judged to be ineffective \"in deterring
\nsocial, inter-ethnic and inter-religious violence that accounted
\nfor the majority of deaths by violence during the year.\"<\/p>\n
The report also gave a poor account of rights protection in
\nmany Asian countries, with Cambodia, China, Myanmar and Vietnam
\nincluded in the long list.<\/p>\n
The report said the Cambodian government generally respected
\nthe human rights of its citizens. However it slammed the failure
\nof the government to prosecute political and non-political
\nkillings by police and military forces.<\/p>\n
The State Department charges that China failed to improve its
\nhuman rights record in 2001 and remains quick to suppress groups
\nseen as a threat to the government.<\/p>\n
\"Citizens who sought to express openly dissenting political
\nand religious views (in China) continued to live in an
\nenvironment filled with repression,\" it noted.<\/p>\n
Severe restrictions on freedom of assembly and of the press,
\nand China's attitude toward its minority Tibetan Buddhists and
\nMuslim Uighurs were also criticized.<\/p>\n
\"They have chosen to label all those ... that advocate greater
\nfreedom as terrorists, and we don't think that's correct,\" said
\nLorne Craner, assistant secretary of state for human rights, on
\nreleasing the survey.<\/p>\n
The report then condemned what it said was Myanmar's
\n\"extremely poor\" rights record and severe repression of its
\ncitizens.<\/p>\n
It claimed that citizens do not have the right to change their
\ngovernment, and are arbitrarily arrested for expressing
\ndissenting political views.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging that Yangon had halted its campaign to
\nintimidate independent lawyers, the report still criticized the
\ngovernment for allegedly continuing to infringe on citizens'
\nprivacy rights, with security forces systematically monitoring
\npeople's movements and communications.<\/p>\n
For Vietnam, the report said \"the government's poor human
\nrights record worsened in some respects and it continued to
\ncommit numerous, serious abuses.<\/p>\n
The State Department accused Hanoi of significantly
\nrestricting freedom of speech, the press, and assembly, and with
\nlittle tolerance to most types of public dissent.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ris-asias-rights-record-poor-us-state-department-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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